As My Memory Rests
by ThinkingCAPSLOCK
Summary: Being forced into the future, Link reflects on who he is, what has changed, and what he's going to do about it. Songfic.


AN: Zelda song fic this time. I heard this song again the other day, and after playing some Ocarina of Time I thought I could write a story about it! Let's see how this goes.

It's of course Ocarina of Time, set just after Link first arrives in the future and follows some of his adventures.

Disclaimer: I don't own LoZ or, of course, the song.

This had to be all a dream. Sure, he looked seven years older, but that didn't mean anything. This was probably just a very, very vivid dream. Or nightmare. Link wasn't sure which it was as he and Navi exited the Temple.

_Summer has come and passed  
The innocent can never last  
Wake me up when September ends_

Link stared out in horror at what used to be a peaceful town. Hyrule Market had turned into a complete wasteland. Surely this had to be a nightmare. Surely in the few moments that had passed between him entering the Temple of Time and leaving, this could not have happened. Link felt as if someone had ripped away his childhood, smothering it under layers of the ash that poured from Death Mountain in the background. __

Like my father's come to pass  
Seven years has gone so fast  
Wake me up when September ends

The more he travelled, the more he realized everything was real. Everyone had moved to Kakariko, Dampé had died, Ingo had taken over the farm... so much had changed. He didn't want this to be real. In his mind, he had just ceased being a child. In the real world, he was expected to become the saviour of Hyrule. __

Here comes the rain again  
Falling from the stars

The world as a whole made him hate the future. All the dreariness, all the pain... learning a song to make it rain at any time didn't really help matters either. Rain was the last thing this world needed.

_Drenched in my pain again  
Becoming who we are_

Nothing was going right. He had finally returned home, to the Lost Woods, to the place he had grown up-and all that was there were monsters. Finally, he entered a house, only to find out that no one recognized him. Not a single one of the people he had spent the majority of his life with knew who he was or what he was doing there. His house had become covered with dust and dirt. He wasn't Link the Kokiri anymore.__

As my memory rests  
But never forgets what I lost  
Wake me up when September ends

He remembered what it was like to be a child. To be carefree - where his biggest worry was whether or not he would ever get his fairy. But somehow he had to put it all behind him. Not forget - no. He just had to keep his past behind him and keep moving forward, to get back to his childhood.__

Summer has come and passed  
The innocent can never last  
Wake me up when September ends  


It was battle after battle. He had saved Saria and Darunia, and was working through the wretched place called the Water Temple. He was crossing a room with a watery floor when he realized he had lost his shadow. Spinning around, he noticed with a grim face a dark clone of himself waiting for him in the middle of the room. Was this one of Ganondorf's tricks, or was there really a dark part of him that this temple had brought out? Jaw set, he rushed towards the figure, Navi by his side. Even his shadow had lost its innocence.

_Ring out the bells again  
Like we did when spring began  
Wake me up when September ends  
_

Despite all the hardship, despite his mind hardening and losing what childhood he had left, there were still things to make him hope in this dreary future. Epona, that gentle soul, had needed to be rescued as well - and Link rescued her indeed. The races were long, but the reward was worth it. For the first time since arriving, Link's face broke out into a contented smile. Maybe there was a purpose to him being here. Maybe he should stop trying to regain his past, and live for the present.

_Here comes the rain again  
Falling from the stars_

But with the joy always came the sorrow, and with the sorrow came the unceasing rainfall. Reentering Kakariko, seeing the creature that came from the well, was beyond what he had ever imagined he'd have to watch. The fires still burned despite the downpour, and even Sheik was no match for the death and destruction this spirit brought. The only way was to go back, they said; go back to being a child, Link.

_Drenched in my pain again  
Becoming who we are_

He stared at the pedestal for the Master Sword. Navi told him over and over, drop the sword Link. But how could they have ripped away his childhood, forced him to grow up these seven years, and then expect him to return as if it was the simplest task in the world? He had just found reason to be in the future.

It hurt. He felt almost physical pain from the torture that the goddesses were putting him through. If he went back to childhood, everything would be different.

But he was the Hero of Time. Link the Hylian. Personal feelings had were unimportant in the long run - he had to save the world. He dropped the sword.__

As my memory rests  
But never forgets what I lost  
Wake me up when September ends

Everything _was_ different in the past. There was a lingering feeling of fear, as if everyone had a dark form waiting in their shadows. Link could easily stay here, easily forget the future. But he had realized his mistakes.

There was something he could do for this world, something good, and Link wasn't just about to let this opportunity slip past him. He had sacrificed his childhood, his innocence, and he was going to make his sacrifices worthwhile. The Lens of Truth in hand, he marched back for the Temple of Time. __

Summer has come and passed  
The innocent can never last  
Wake me up when September ends

The feelings of anxiety he had were completely gone. Seven years in the future, he fought his way through shadow and spirit, freeing two more of his friends, using the flow of time to accomplish any task he saw fit. He was truly the Hero of Time, the hero of Hyrule, and the hero of the weak. With every lost friend he gained more will to right the world of the future. __

Like my father's come to pass  
Twenty years has gone so fast  
Wake me up when September ends

Link wasn't quite sure of his age anymore. Was he twenty? Was he still thirteen? Thoughts like these plagued his mind as he worked his way through Ganondorf's castle. Once he had defeated Ganondorf, what then? Was he going to return to his own time? The time had almost gone too quickly. He couldn't believe his own regrets and anger at the start of his trip in the future. This world, despite its changes, still held so much for him.

_Wake me up when September ends  
Wake me up when September ends_

He was going back home. Zelda had told him that she was sending him back to his own time, no way around it. There would be no more time travel, no more adventures, just Link the thirteen year old child, who was a lot older than he seemed. It wasn't fair. He began to protest. He had wanted this in the past, but now, so much had changed; he didn't think that his childhood was the right place for him anymore.

There was a flash and a bright light. When Link woke up, he was in the Temple of Time.


End file.
